GIJN Schedules 2023 Board Election

For two weeks this August and September, member representatives of GIJN will vote to elect seven members of its 15-member board of directors. Board members serve for two-year terms. The election will be held electronically, from August 23 at 12.01 am to September 6 at 23.59 pm CET.

Each of GIJN’s 244 member organizations is entitled to one vote, which is cast by its designated representative (on record with the GIJN Secretariat). If member organizations are unsure who their representatives are, please contact us.

Electronic ballots will be emailed to member representatives.

Duties of the Board

GIJN is a US-registered non-profit corporation, and the board serves as its governing body. Board members play an active leadership role, carrying out the fiduciary (financial) duties of oversight, and providing strategic direction, administrative oversight, and general support to the organization. Duties include (but are not limited to) attending board and board committee meetings, setting key GIJN policies, approving new membership applications, approving the annual budget, evaluating and overseeing the executive director, and providing fundraising support.

Board members, as representatives of the membership, will also be asked to provide advisory input into — but do not carry out — conference organizing, training, and other program activities. Conference and program activities are overseen and carried out by the staff.

Board Election Rules

The Current GIJN Board

Board Election Rules (Bylaws)

To be eligible to run, candidates must be affiliated with a GIJN member organization and their candidacy must be endorsed by that organization.

Candidates should send a photo, short bio, and a statement about why they want to join the GIJN board to secretariat@gijn.org. These will be posted on the GIJN website. All nominations must be submitted by August 7, 2023 at 23:59 CET.

To ensure diversity, the GIJN board reserves seats for representatives from six geographic regions. Another eight seats are for at-large members. A fifteenth board position is reserved for a representative of the host organization for the next global conference.

Regional board members are divided into the following regions and two election groups:

Group 1: North America, Latin America/Caribbean, Middle East/North Africa.

Group 2: Europe, Asia/Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa.

This year we will vote on the three regional members from Group 2 and four at-large board-members.

If only one candidate, or no candidates, run for the board in that region, no election will be held for that region. If only one is running, he or she will be elected. If two or more candidates get equal votes, the election committee will decide by flipping a coin.

All member representatives are entitled to vote for election of the four at-large members. Each member organization can vote for a maximum of four board-members.

If an individual has already been elected as a regional representative, he or she shall be removed from the list of elected at large representatives. Similarly, if an individual’s election would mean one region exceeds the allowable amount of four at-large representatives, he or she shall be removed from the list of at-large representatives.

The four candidates with the most votes are elected, unless it will conflict with the two rules mentioned above. If there is a tie in the voting, the decision will be made by the election officer flipping a coin.

The board member for the organization hosting the next global conference does not count in the calculation on maximum five members in the board from one region.

If there are more candidates than seats, we will hold an election using electronic voting. Voting will open at 12:01 am CET, Wednesday, August 23, 2023, and end at 11:59 pm, Wednesday, September 6, 2023, CET.

John Bones, executive director of GIJN member SKUP (Norway), who is not on the board, will serve as the election officer, overseeing the voting process, with the assistance of the GIJN staff. Results will be certified by the GIJN executive director, overseen by a GIJN committee of board members not up for election this year.

The results of the electronic voting will be announced following completion, tabulation, and certification of the vote. The new board members will replace the previous members at the GIJN General Meeting, Sept. 20, 2023, at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference. Board members serve for a two-year term.